KWAKIUTL TALES

by Franz Boas

[1910]

This is a collection of myths and folklore from the Kwakiutl Native Americans
of British Columbia, Canada.
They originally resided on the northern end of Vancouver Island
and the adjacent coast.
The texts were collected and translated by Franz Boas, who
was one of the founders of modern anthropology and linguistics.
These stories are much more satisfying for the Western
reader than many unfiltered Native American texts,
with rich characterizations,
earthy humor, spooky supernatural settings,
and, for once, actual beginnings, middles and ends.
It is obvious that the Kwakuitl were accomplished story tellers.